AI Challenge

AI Challenge (English Artificial Intelligence), also Google AI Challenge is a since 2009 from the Computer Science Club of the University of Waterloo veranstalteter and sponsored by Google programming competition.

Expiration

The focus of competition is in the area of ​​artificial intelligence, the participants compete with a bot bots against other participants. The computer programs, which are based on different algorithms that try to defeat each other in the game is scheduled to pairings of a competition.

The programmer can change in the course of their competition bot, but have no way to intervene into the game during the game. The number of bots that join the same game at the same time here is variable.

The choice of programming language for the computer program is freely selectable, it usually provides preconfigured programs (" Starter Packages" ) in various programming languages ​​, which can be modified as desired.

The composition of the Fixtures, as well as the evaluation of the games take place since the fall of 2011 with the model developed by Microsoft Research methods TrueSkill, previously this was based on the Elo rating.

Usually the winner publish in a " post-mortem " approach and their modes of operation as well as the source code of their program.

Competitions

Ants

In the fall of 2011 was " Ants", the fourth competition, held with 7,897 participants. From October to 19 December, the participants could test their programs with each other and new versions of their bots, for the year ended December 24 finale, upload.

The aim of the game is with your own ant colonies, by entering the hill to destroy the anthills of the opponent. Destroying an enemy hill, the player gets two points for the loss of your own, a point deduction.

By collecting of food, the population of ants coming out of their own hills increased. Meet on the field ants of different colonies it comes to fight in a duel both die ants, dies at outnumbered only the ant outnumbered.

The playing fields, running paths and feeding stations are arranged randomly; to all bots to grant equal opportunities, the arrangement is symmetrical.

At one game take some two to ten players for executing a turn, every program half a second time, simultaneously carried out the moves of all participating programs. The duration of a game amounts in this case to a maximum of 1,000 trains, provided the player has not previously destroyed all opposing hill.